Men's Swimming & Diving

Freshman Mark Papalardo was outstanding as the Flames' top finisher on Sunday.

Oct. 28, 2003

Chicago, Ill.- While the swimming teams traveled to Evanston for the Northwestern Relays, the UIC men's and women's diving squads returned home to host the UIC Diving Invitational at the UIC Natatorium on Sunday afternoon.

The Flames answered questions regarding their diving team depth with strong showings on both sides. The UIC men overwhelmed the competition with a first-place finish, while the women grabbed a tie for first with UW-Milwaukee.

Leading the men were newcomers Mark Papalardo and Mike Horowitz, who finished with the Flames' top scores in both the one-meter and three-meter dives. Papalardo earned a 241.40 on the one-meter board for a second-place finish while also taking second in the three-meter dive, scoring a 217.4 in the event. Horowitz scored a 225.35 in the one-meter dive to finish just behind Pappalardo at third, then took fifth on the three-meter board at 210.25.

Freshman Ryan Fitzer grabbed fifth in the one-meter dive with a score of 203.45 while taking seventh in the three-meter at 189.22. Senior Joe Scharnak placed eighth in the three-meter with a 186.55 and finished ninth in the one-meter by scoring a 175.65 in the event.

Sophomore Mike Borge rounded out the men's competition for the Flames with tenth-place finishes in both events, scoring a 138.30 in the one-meter and a 133.20 on the three-meter board.

UIC topped the men's standing with 124 points, followed by UW-Milwaukee with 104. Northwestern was third with 40 points.

For the women's team, freshman Sarah Economides followed up a first-place finish in her first collegiate diving event at Eastern Illinois on Friday evening with an outstanding 211.90 on the one-meter board. Economides completed her day by finishing 12th in the three-meter, earning a 199.75 score.

Diving captain Caitlin Carey was steady as usual, completing the three-meter dive as the Flames' top finisher with a sixth-place finish and a score of 218.25. Carey earned fourth in the one-meter with a judges' tally of 206.45.

Other notable finishers for the UIC women included sophomoes Tara Goodwin and Holly Waidanz. Goodwin followed Carey in the three-meter dive with a seventh-place finish, earning 214.10 points, while trailing Carey by just over a point on the one-meter board (205.35) to take fifth. Waidanz earned 12th in the one-meter with a 145.60 and a 20th-place finish in the three-meter event with a score of 149.35.

UIC earned 84 points to score a first-place team tie with UW-Milwaukee. Illinois State was third with 56 points, followed by Illinois (43) and Northwestern (40).

The UIC diving teams rejoin the swimming squads to take on defending Horizon League men's and women's champion Wright State at the UIC Natatorium on Saturday, November 1st at noon.